Big Bear teen conquers Antarctica summit

Tuesday

Dec 27, 2011 at 10:44 AMDec 28, 2011 at 2:35 PM

Brooke Edwards Staggs and Tomoya Shimura, Staff Writers

BIG BEAR LAKE • A Big Bear teen has become the youngest person to reach the summit of the seven tallest mountains on Earth's seven continents, after 15-year-old Jordan Romero reached the top of Antarctica's Mt. Vinson Massif over the holiday weekend.

"We're at the roof of Antarctica," Jordan's father, Paul Romero, breathlessly reported via podcast on Christmas Eve from the peak of the 16,050-foot mountain. "I'm the proudest dad in the world right now."

Jordan, his father and his stepmother, Karen "Super K" Lundgren, conquered the mountain with help from a guide. Along with setting an age record, Jordan told the Daily Press before he left for the trip that he believes his is also the first family to climb all Seven Summits together.

Team Jordan flew from Chile to "the bottom of the world" on Dec. 16 and reached Mt. Vinson's 7,000-foot base camp on Dec. 19, according to podcast reports available on the team's website. With summer just beginning there, Lundgren reported the sun was shining at midnight and temperatures were 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

After a couple days of getting their equipment together and keeping an eye on some heavy winds, the team began its long, cold trek, reaching the goal mid-day on Christmas Eve.

"The team climbed absolutely flawlessly," Paul Romero said, with nothing more than some cold fingers and toes reported. "Jordan is as strong as a bull."

With all of the continents' tallest mountains conquered by age 15, Jordan beat the record previously held by 16-year-old British climber George Atkinson.

Jordan's chase for his dream began when he saw a hallway painting of the Seven Summits at Lucerne Valley Elementary School and told his father he wanted to climb all of them.

He finished the first one — Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa — in 2006 when he had just turned 10 years old and was barely 5 feet tall. He racked up three summits in 2007, one in 2008 and 2009, then made national headlines in May 2010 when he reached the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.

Jordan, now a 6-foot sophomore at Big Bear High School, blogs about his journeys on his website, www.JordanRomero.com. He also tries to motivate fans to abstain from junk food and sodas, promoting a healthier lifestyle.

On Tuesday, Paul Romero reported Team Jordan had been plucked off Mt. Vinson's base camp glacier and dropped at nearby Union Glacier, planning to spend another couple days there practicing their ski mountaineering skills. Then they'll head back to southern Chile before leaving for home.

"The town of Big Bear Lake, we try to make you proud," Paul Romero promised, "and we'll be home soon to party."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

To read more about Jordan Romero, click on the headlines below to read related stories:

Big Bear teen heads to Antarctica

Romero welcomed home after climbing Mount Everest

Youngest Everest climber wants others to 'go big'

13-year-old to attempt to climb Everest

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